From Beginning to End to Beginning Again: The Brief, Whirlwind Road Trip to Mobile, AL

Thursday, November 8 to Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Camellia japonica 'Sawada's Mahogany' generously donated a few early blooms to our visit of Green Nurseries. This is one of my favorites from Mr. Sawada. The cool evenings brought out the purple blush, which adds an extra dimension of color to this stunning cultivar.

I seem to always ask myself this question as the proverbial rollercoaster is sputtering up to the tippy-top of the hill. The breathlessness you feel just as you begin the drop into the twists and turns of the ride you find yourself strapped into catches me every time. Had I really thought through what I was attempting to do?

Is that sasquatch I spotted at MBG??? (Thanks for the photobomb, Maarten!)

The trip to Mobile had been floating around my mind since I’d come back to North Carolina. At some point I had to relieve my grandmother of the plants and stuff I’d left behind, and visit the friends and family I knew I would miss so much.

My mom had agreed to go with me to help with the complicated moving logistics/summersaults I would need to go through to get everything back. Room on a Uhaul for plants and the coinciding Independent Plant Breeders Conference (check out the star lineup and see the summary below for the historic photos!) helped me get part of the trip covered by work.

After all the thought I’d put into it, I was in a daze as I drove the first leg to Charlotte that Wednesday night after a full day of work.

What was I getting myself into?

~

My mom and I set off at 8 o’clock sharp on Thursday morning. My goal was to get to Mobile in time for the pre-conference mixer. I drove the first leg from Belmont to Montgomery, and mom drove the last two and a half hours to Mobile. We’d been traveling for the better part of a day, but the grey day gave us no indication any time had passed.

Pulling up to my grandparents’ house seemed like the most normal thing in the world to do. It was still there in the same spot waiting for us. It hurt to think it had been more than four months since I was there. It had been much longer since my mom had seen her parents though. All in all, I decided to spend the evening with my family and leave the IPB conference for the next morning….

Bill Barnes takes a moment to remind us "if all else fails [in your breeding efforts] seek creativity elsewhere!"

Click here for more photos and check out the captions for more of the story!

Trip Summary
Thursday- Drive from Charlotte to Mobile, evening with family

Friday- Conference talks all morning at the Battle House Hotel, site visits to the Mobile Botanical Gardens and Bellingrath Gardens, conference dinner at Bellingrath (check out these old horticulture photos!), night with family afterwards

Saturday- Conference talks all morning at Battle House Hotel, site visits to PDSI and Flowerwood Nursery and Green Nurseries, plant exchange with Maarten, Bobby, Linda and MBG, house party at Donna and Joe Camp’s House

Sunday- Morning with family, afternoon spent packing stuff and organizing plants in yard for travel the next day, dinner with Maarten, Colleen, Linda and company at Aroy Thai restaurant

Monday- Uhaul rental as torrential downpours began in Mobile, picked up plants from Linda’s, Maarten’s and Bobby’s, packed my things into my car and the Uhaul, began drive back to Raleigh, stopped in Auburn for dinner with Keith, stayed at AirBnB in Atlanta

Tuesday- Drove from Atlanta to Raleigh, dropped stuff off at the house and at work, mom drove the Uhaul back to Belmont, I don’t remember when I did that night. WHEW!

Mobile Botanical Gardens: Week of April 13

Lots going on at the garden, despite the astronomical amount of rain and thunderstorms we got this week. The Rhododendron Garden is full of azaleas in various stages of flowering in all different different colors of whites, pinks, purples and reds. It really is quite amazing to walk through and observe.

Here's a photographic snippet of how things are going in the garden:

Emergence: Mobile Botanical Garden Volunteering and Longleaf Pines

I've made it safely to Mobile, Alabama and I'm staying with my grandparents here for a few weeks. It is vastly different from Martha's Vineyard or North Carolina: the first day I was here it was hard to breathe because the air was so humid for winter! But, I've loved looking at the trees and seeing that the dominant pine is the longleaf, Pinus palustris (yes, it has needles and yes, needles are considered leaves). It is such a handsome tree and too rare a sight in my native Piedmont North Carolina. Obviously, it's one of my favorite trees.

The shining canopy of a longleaf pine, Pinus palustris. They really glisten in the mid-day sun. If you check out the photos, you'll notice I have a slight obsession with the little pine seedlings.

I decided since I was going to be here for a while that I would reach out to the local Mobile Botanical Garden to do some volunteering (please support your local botanical garden in time, participation and/or money!). I immediately got an email from the director welcoming me to come by anytime, so I went out there to check it out this morning as soon as I could.

It was breezy and a little cooler than it had been the last few days, but the sky was clear and the day was gorgeous. The longleaf pine forest welcomed me along Museum Drive and I was so excited to be there as soon as I got out of my car.

Taiwan cherry in the Rhododendron Garden circle.

I briefly walked through the Millie McConnell Rhododendron Garden, taking in the mauve Prunus campanulata. Taiwan Cherry, blooming in the center and dreaming of the spring when the azaleas (actually Rhododendron cultivars) put on a show. There were even a few early blooms on the azaleas. If you ever get to visit Mobile in March or April, dear reader, please check out the garden and its spectacular collection of the many groups of azaleas. This is one of the most comprehensive azalea collections that showcases the Deep South's azalea breeding heritage.

It would have been a shame to skip over the Kosaku Sawada WinterGarden, where I knew I would see the wonderful diversity of Camellia cultivars blooming. Even on the second of February most of them were blooming heavily in all shades of white, pink and red, and in all sizes, from quarter-sized to almost six inches wide. Being on the Vineyard really taught me an appreciation for these wonderful plants, despite how common they can be in the landscape.

Camellia japonica 'Kitty'

After my quick jaunt on the grounds, I went to check in about volunteering. It looks like I came at the right time and I can't wait to get to work tomorrow! (Update, 2/3/15: six hours of pruning work and the azalea garden looks great!)

After my meeting, I finally had the time to walk through the Longleaf Pine Forest. Although it's been in existence since the 50's when the pond nearby was used as Mobile's water source, I've never had the opportunity to see it during my brief trips to the garden. Robin suggested I get the worm's eye view of the forest floor because this year was the heaviest seed cast in recent history. She was not exaggerating! Tiny seedlings, their cotyledons unfurling from their tan seed coats like octopi, carpeted the ground, coming up among pine needles, grasses, goldenrods (Solidago ssp.) and everything else in between. Longleafs in the grass and rocket stage were everywhere as well. The whole walk was like traveling to a different world for a moment.

Pinus palustris seedling.

Please do take a moment to appreciate this very sobering fact: prior to European settlement the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there was almost 90 million acres of longleaf pine forest stands. Today, there is only a little more than 500,000 acres. It may not be a rainforest, but the Southeastern United States is the only place in the world where the longleaf pine savanna ever existed. Please check out the Longleaf Partnership Council's website for more information.